Hard to change headlamp bulbs

No issues right now, but the headlight bulbs on our Tahoe are quite a bit more difficult to change than most vehicles I've owned. Not a BIG deal but still a PITA. As such when I get my next outage I'd like to replace the high beam 9005 and low beam H11 bulbs with something that will offer a good balance between lifespan and output. Historically I tend to use the Philips extreme vision/power bulbs and they do seem to last quite well. But are there better options? The last vehicle with 9005 that I upgraded to TIR (9011) bulbs, they started to burn out after 2 years, although the output was fantastic. Further complicating this, the vehicle (Tahoe) has DRLs which I believe utilize the high beam bulbs but I don't know if they attenuate voltage, amps or use PWM.

Thoughts or suggestions? FWIW, the OE high beams are great, and the low beams are OK but could really use improvement.

Edit: I did find THIS POST which reiterates the 9005-9011 swap as well as a H11-H9 swap which sounds similar to the TIR upgrade. I still question filiment lifespan in both applications, can anybody clarify?

Buck91 said:

The last vehicle with 9005 that I upgraded to TIR (9011) bulbs, they started to burn out after 2 years, although the output was fantastic.

Click to expand...

You mean HIR? The 9011 and 9012 are HIR1 and HIR2 respectively.

Historically I tend to use the Philips extreme vision/power bulbs and they do seem to last quite well. But are there better options?

Click to expand...

The X-Treme Vision/Power bulbs will not last as long as a standard bulb, due to the optimizations they have (tighter, hotter hotspot).

Further complicating this, the vehicle (Tahoe) has DRLs which I believe utilize the high beam bulbs but I don't know if they attenuate voltage, amps or use PWM.

Click to expand...

It reduces voltage, which in turn reduces current to the power of -1.6 with the change in voltage. PWM is just one way of reducing voltage, the mechanism they use doesn't really matter.

You could move the DRL function to the turn signals using the DRL-1, saving wear on your high beam bulbs.

You can also easily verify which bulb set they use by getting out of the vehicle with the engine running and the vehicle in Park, or you could look at the pattern on the garage door/a wall/etc.

The H9 swap will be trouble in headlamps with poor glare control. Putting in the best H11 you can (this one) would be advised if your headlamps are in that category (I could be overgeneralizing, but it is a GM product). It does mean more-frequent changes than a standard H11.

Alaric is right: you pretty much have to choose good seeing or long lifespan from your low beam bulbs; you can't have both at the same time. The GE bulb he linked is a very good one; this Philips is nearly as good and costs less, and will probably have a somewhat longer lifespan than the GE. He's also right, don't use an H9.

I can't think of a Tahoe model that uses H11 low + 9005 high and has high-beam DRLs from the factory. Low-beam DRLs, yes. Check it out.

As for the high beams: HIR1 (9011) in plain or deluxe (higher luminance).

And you'll definitely want to spend the effort and money to have a precise aim job done with an aiming machine.